10-Second Fixes

2. Convert All-Caps Into Lowercase in Office: Select the text and press Shift-F3.

3. Select a Large Block of Text in a Web Browser: Click normally in front of the first word you wish to select, and then hold down Shift and click at the end of the text you want. Press Ctrl-C to copy the text. This trick works in all major browsers.

4. Quickly Zoom in and out of a Web Page: Hold down the Ctrl key and use your mouse's scrollwheel.

5. Quickly Open a Command Prompt in a Buried Folder: Find the folder in Windows Explorer, and then Shift-right-click it. Select Open command window here.

Windows XP Fixes

1. Fix Everything: Download Tweak UI to access hidden settings, such as window scroll speed. It's part of the PowerToys pack, which has other apps like ClearType Tuner (improve your LCD's clarity) and Image Resizer (right-click a photo in Windows Explorer to change its resolution).

2. Disable System Tray Pop-Ups (Windows XP and Vista): Enter regedit in the Start menu Run box (XP) or search box (Vista). In the Registry Editor, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced. Create a new DWORD value with the name of EnableBalloonTips and a value of 0. Restart the PC.

3. Rearrange the Taskbar: Normally apps are listed in the order opened, but you can freely move apps around on the taskbar by using Taskbar Shuffle.

4. Turn Off Error Reporting: You have no reason to report errors, since Microsoft isn't fixing XP bugs now. Open the System control panel, click the Advanced tab, and click Error Reporting for disabling options.

5. Get Aero Snap in XP: Like the window-management features of Windows 7, such as Aero Snap? You can fake it in Windows XP with the help of AquaSnap, a free add-on.

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